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O^V-O^^XCaJ-VvJ (Lines from Mr. Longfellow's poem, "To a Child" which he copied one hundred years after Washington's occupancy of this house)

Once, ah, once Within these walls, One whom memory oft recalls, , The Father of his Country dwelt; i ind yonder meadows broad and damp The fires of the besieging camp Encircled with a burning belt. Up and down these echoing stairs, ‘ Heavy with the weight of cares; Sounded his majestic tread; Yes, within this very room 1 Sat he in those hours of gloom, Weary both in heart and head. ! Henry W. Longfellow j Aug. 18, 1875 PROPERTY OF LIBRARY V S 3 / / 3VlOÔ ^DIVISION OF CULTURAL RESOURCES, NARO

LONGFELLOW HOUSE

A PROPOSED NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

Prepared by

NORTHEAST REGION

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

A FIELD INVESTIGATION REPORT

Richard P. Wittpenn - Supervisory Park Planner Frank Barnes - Regional Historian Jack Lukens - Regional Architect

February, I963 PRE-REVOLU Tl ON AA BUILDINGS and CONTINENTAL FORTIFICATIONS CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

1. Massachusetts HalI 1713 2 Harvard Hall 1766 3 Hollis Hall 1764 4. Holden Chaoel 1742 5. Wadsworth House 1725 6 John Hicks House 1760 7. Apthorp House 1760 8. Cooper-Frost-Austin House 1657 9. Vassal-Waterhouse-Ware House 1724 10. Vassal-Craigie-Longfellow House 1759 11. Brattle Mansion 1727 12. James Read House 1726 13. Henry Vassal House (Various) 1635 14. Lechmere-Sewell-Riedesel House 1762 15. Hooper-Lee-Nichols House 1660 16. Marrett-Ruggles-Fayerweather House 1760 17. Oliver-Gerry-LowelI House 1760 18. ChristChurch 1759 19. Fort Putnam 20. Fort No. 1 21 . Fort No. 2 22. Fort No. 5 23. Fort Washington

Routes of British April 18 & 19, 1775 Route of Dawes April 18 1775 < Skirmish Locations, April 19, 1775 Other Continental Fortifications 3 0 I Houses East of Old Cambridge 1775 ■

Exhibit F CONTENT. S

Page

INTRODUCTION...... 1

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS...... » 2

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED A R E A ...... 3

EVALUATION OF THE PROPOSED A R E A ...... 5

DEVELOPMENT AND U S E ...... *.. 7

BOUNDARIES, LAND OWNERSHIP AND ASSESSED VALUES .... 9

ARCHITECTURAL E V A L U A T I O N ...... 10

HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE...... l6

APPENDICES INTRODUCTION

This report on the Longfellow House, Cambridge, Massachusetts has' been prepared at the request of Director Conrad L. Wirth following initial correspondence between Mr. Francis G. Goodale, executive trustee of the Longfellow House, and members of the Department of

Interior concerning the possibility of placing the Longfellow House and Property under the custody of the National Park Service.

The primaiy purpose of the report is to determine the suitability and feasibility of the area for inclusion in the National Park System and to discuss the problems pertinent to its transfer, preservation, plan ning, development and operation.

This report further explains the architectural importance of the house and its historical associations with important personages who dwelled there; provides a historical background; and, finally, contains an architectural analysis of the buildings.

In gathering information for this report, material assistance was given by Mr. Francis G. Goodale, executive trustee of the Longfellow House

Trust; by Mr. Thomas H. deValeourt, curator at the Longfellow House for many years; and by Mr. Frank 0. Buda, guide and custodian for 35 years. Their cooperation and assistance are gratefully acknowledged.

The field investigation for this report was undertaken during the week of January lk, 1962.

1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The Longfellow House is of exceptional importance, and, from the stand point of national significance, is fully suitable for inclusion in the

National Park System under Theme XX, The Arts and Sciences, Sub-theme

on Literature, Drama and Music; it may also be cross-referenced to the

Sub-theme on Architecture under Theme XX. However, the importance of the house lies in its connection with the poet, Longfellow, who occupied

this house as his residence from 1837 to 1882. It is suggested that

the area be designated as the Longfellow National Historic Site.

The area, as it exists, is completely adequate; thus, it is suggested

that no additional lands be acquired for maintenance, administration,

protection or visitor use. Public transportation to the Site is

available from Boston and the area is easily reached by existing

roads. Adequate parking area for ten cars exists along Brattle

Street in front of the property. Housing of personnel in the City of " \ Cambridge presents the usual problems existent in a college town of

this size.

It is noted that Article IV of the Supplemental Indenture of Trust

executed on November 18, 191^, provides for "conveyance to a corpor

ation" (underscoring supplied). See Appendix A-;2.''Supplemental

Indenture of Trust".

2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED AREA.

The Longfellow House, owned and administered by the Longfellow House

Trust, is located at 105 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts on

I .98 acres of land. The house is situated in a good neighborhood of fine old homes, seme of which are outstanding examples of colonial^Greek revival, and Victorian styles. The Longfellow House is a New England house of the late Georgian period. Balustrades, steps, and terraces enhance the' appearance of the house; and the facade is adorned by a central pavillion and pediment, a rather prominent modillioned cornice, and four giant white ionic pilasters. The windows, however, are simple openings, equipped with both interior shutters and exterior blinds.

The house is almost square and has a double hipped roof, with four t lower slopes crowned by balustrades which conceal four upper slopes of very low pitch. The plan is of central-hall type with interior chimneys, differing from the norm only in the depth of the hall which permits a partitioned back hall with a separate servants' staircase.

Two yellow brick chimneys are capped with ornamental hoods. Piazzas on the east and west sides overlook lawns and formal garden. The house is open to the public daily and receives 30^000 visitors each year.

Behind the house and to the west stands a well constructed and preserved two-story carriage house and barn approximately 6 0 ' x 2 0 ' in dimension> designed and built for Mr. Longfellow in 18^5-

I 3 The grounds around the house are well landscaped and well cared for.

East and adjacent to the rear portion of the.house is a formal garden

while visiting Italy. The flower beds, with their borders of boxwood,

make up a symmetrical pattern, something like that in an oriental rug.

In the center, four pear-shaped beds make up a circle. This in turn

is enlarged by triangular beds in the corners so as to make a square.

On either side of this are large oblongs, broken up into quatrefoils

and triangles. The gateway to the path leading from the garden to

the barn consists of side posts and pediment taken from the Longfellow

House in Newbury, built in 1685. A General Plan of the formal garden,

consisting of 13 drawings, was made by the Historic American Buildings

Survey in 1935.

In front of the property and across Brattle Street is a small formal park, Longfellow Park, .vned by the City of Cambridge which, extends

almost to the Charles River and was once part of the original Long

fellow Property. This house together with sixteen others, two reli

gious buildings, one clubhouse, and the Longfellow Park are recommended by the Historic Districts Study Committee, City of Cambridge as a proposed Historic District under the Historic Districts Act of Mass

achusetts, General Laws, Chapter 40C, enacted in i960. (See Appendix C).

k THe Longfellow House, about 1870. Note the side piazza (balanced by another on the opposite side of the house) and the ell in the rear, built post-1791 by Andrew Craigie.

The Longfellow House today stands virtually unchanged. The Study, about 1872. Longfellow himself sits in the long leather- covered chair by the door to the Library.

The Study Today. The tall bookcase at top right center is the one at the left of the photo above. The bookcase at the extreme upper right—together with another like it on the other side of the fire place (see above)— represents the only significant furnishing change in the room since Longfellow's day. In the center foreground is the desk at which Longfellow stood to write many of his poems. The Front H all. Entering by the massive front door with its large brass knocker, one comes into the hallway. Here can be seen the front staircase with its elaborately carved newel post and balusters of three different types. On the landing is an ornate seventeenth- century Dutch clock.

The Library, about 1875. Today much the same. Originally square, and the dining room of builder John Vassall, this room was lengthened, post -1791, by Andrew Craigie, at which time the two fluted columns supporting a heavy entablature were added in the middle of the long interior wall shown. Formal Garden, designed by Longfellow, resembles an Italian garden. TFieTT ower-beds , with their border of boxwood, make up a symetrical pattern. In the center, four pear-shaped beds make up a circle. This in turn is enlarged by triangular beds in the corners so as to make a square. On either side of this are large oblongs, broken up into quatrefoils and triangles.

The Carriage House, designed by Longfellow in 1845, is a well preserved and well constructed building approximately 60' x 20' in dimension. EVALUATION OF THE PROPOSED AREA

The proposed site would admirably commemorate the life and writings of one of America's most famous poets. It was in this house that

Longfellow composed most of his immortal works. If the Longfellow

House National Historic Site is established, it would be the first area in the National Park System commemorating the Sub-theme on

Literature, Drama and Music under Theme XX, the Arts and Sciences.

The house is also important because of its association with General

George Washington, for it served as his headquarters for ten months during the siege of Boston in 1775-76- The house is one of the most interesting and important buildings in the New England area and is well known for its architectural excellence. It presents an aspect of furnishings, Longfellow memorabilia, pictures and other details of decoration that stem from the last century against a background of good Georgian staircasing, panelling and chimney pieces a hundred years earlier.

The house has a high degree of integrity since it has been maintained

essentially as it was when the poet lived there. The buildings and grounds have been well maintained and present only minor repair prob lems which could be handled without curtailing visitation, should

the site be authorized. Further discussion of this aspect is included

in the section on architectural and structural analysis.

Because the trustees of the Longfellow House Trust have offered to donate this property to the federal government, there would conceivably not be any cost of land or building acquisition. It is therefore esti mated that the yearly administration cost would be $41,000 and the yearly maintenance and operation cost would be $10,000 . The devel opment cost would be $100,000 over a five year period.

In 1940 the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments declared the Longfellow House to be of national significance and a fine example of 18th-century architecture in this country. In

1961, the Advisory Board noted again the importance of the building as Washington's headquarters in the American War for Independence.

Also, at their October, 1962 meeting in Hawaii, the Advisory Board recommended that the Longfellow House be classified as possessing exceptional value in commemorating and illustrating the history of the United States. And, most recently, the Advisory Board recommended that the Longfellow House be designated as a Registered Historic

Landmark.

The Boston National Historic Sites Commission's final report in i960 recommended national recognition of exceptional properties in the environs of Boston, and endorsed the Longfellow House as being of exceptional value.

6 DEVELOPMENT AND USE

Development and visitor use of the Longfellow House Site is focused primarily on the house and the objects inside, and secondarily on the formal garden and grounds. The house at present functions as a historic house museum, -the visitor generally being shown only the main floor. The second floor also contains the furnishings of

Longfellow and at present fulfills a dual purpose. Tiro rooms serve as the curator1s office and two apartments are occupied by tenants, one of which is a senior at a nearby seminary who rents it on a yearly basis. The trustees feel that someone occupying the house affords a degree of rjrotection.

In terms of development, the Longfellow Site presents only minor problems. Off-street parking is not recommended because of the limited acreage available. Parking of visitors' cars could be handled on Brattle Street. Provision for ten cars could be made directly in front of the house where there is 246 feet of street frontage.

The walk to the house from Brattle Street provides direct access. Also, there is convenient circulation and control throughout the immediate grounds, especially to the formal garden, although some stabilization of the walks and regrading of the driveway is necessary. The SO-too^ right-of-way along the western boundary of the site does not appear to present a major problem for it is apparently not used by the

7 residents of Lots 1 and 3 (see Property Map following page 9 ).

The lawns and plant materials are in good condition and well main tained, although seme work is now required on two of the older trees.

Future additions or alterations to the site and buildings needed to accommodate visitors or to satisfy administrative requirements should be executed in such a way that they will be unobtrusive. Every effort must be made to protect and preserve the basic integrity and authen ticity of the Site and any future adjustment should reflect the basic taste envisioned by Mr. Longfellow.

It is therefore suggested that the replacement of the heating system, the provision of rest facilities, and administrative requirements be incorporated within the carriage house to the rear of the Long fellow House. A Visitor Center is not considered a requirement for the Site because of the limited size of the area. The House would continue to operate and function much as it does at present, utilizing the second floor as an extension to the interpretive use of the house.

8 BOUNDARIES, LAND OWNERSHIP AND ASSESSED VALUES

The boundaries of the Proposed Longfellow House National Historic

Site, presently administered by the Longfellow House Trust, are shown in hachure on the Property Map following this page. This map has been traced from the 1922 Plan of Partition of the Estate of

Henry W. Longfellow.

The Property, rectangular in outline, extends for 2A6.65 feet along

Brattle Street on the south, and slightly less this distance on the north. The Property is 35O feet deep on the west, along which a

30-foot right-of-way exists as access for properties 1 and 3 - No lineal distance is indicated for the easterly boundary; however, it measures approximately 3^6-5 feet.

The assessed value of the land according to the Board of Assessors of the City of Cambridge is $10,100. The assessed value of the land and buildings is $55;000.

9 PLAN OF PARTITION ^'T VILLAED ST. ESTATE OF so LIENGY \V. LONGFELLCV Ó CX L. 045O3Q.FT K *L* 2 L o t bfe.4 i r f j j A s p in v a l l e ^ L in o o l n , civillngineees . 150 0 0 S o .rT . Zuff^ed U J!\oowl JOUMCHONKLE LMLNDCUSON 4 6 ¿p e n u i l l , P ^ t ^ n SOOOSQ.FT. 7000SQ.FT □ ____ ao ___ 70- /Aa y 2 2 ,1922 LV. E.D.-L L o t N a L

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N W 3L E O O O 6aA ARCHITECTURAL EVALUATION

This very handsome and well-preserved mid-eighteenth century mansion

has been called "the second best-known historic house in America"*.

It is illustrated in most standard college textbooks on architectural

history. Plans and details were recorded in a set of 25 sheets of

measured drawings by Donald Millar in 1915, copies of which are in

the possession of the National Park Service. The garden, which was

laid out by H. W. Longfellow, is already included in the Historic

American Building Survey. Obviously, the house with its surroundings

comprise'an architectural treasure which has been cherished and appre

ciated for many generations.

Fortunately, ’ the neighborhood setting of the house today remains

appropriate and favorable to the visitors 1 enjoyment of the house,

both from the outside as he approaches and from the inside as he

looks out in any direction. On the east separated by a dignified

interval, stands the Hastings house built in 1845, with its charming

.early Victorian bow-windowed front, which stood there, of course,

during most of Longfellow's period. The two houses to the west were

both built by persons of taste, viz., Longfellow's two sons in Xgv,

Richard Henry Dana and Joseph Gilbert Thorpe, within a few years after

the poet's death. The properties adjoining to the north are residential

* "Measured Drainings of Some Colonial and Georgian Houses",' Donald Millar, .Architectural Book Publishing Company, Inc., New York, 1915-

10 and institutional with an agreeable interspersion of gardens and trees, and the south vista, across Brattle Street to the Charles

River, is for the most part preserved in the form of a municipal

Park.

Approaching the house on foot along Brattle Street, the graceful barrier at the front of the property subtly induces a mood of elegance and re finement. It is an ancient fence of carefully finished woodwork in

Chinese Chippendale pattern. Passing through the gate, a broad straight walk creates a strong central axis, at the end of which one is confronted with the magnificent spectacle of the generous-scaled Palladian facade of the house itself. There is a terraced rise in grade of about four feet near the house and the walls, negotiates this by two low flights of steps.

At either side of the steps and along the front of the terrace is a white-painted wood ballustrade, added by Longfellow in 1873, which recalls the more delicate ballustrade on the roof and forms a fine visual base for the facade.

The house itself is opulent sophisticated Mew England "Georgian". Most of the interesting original elements remain intact and it has lost none of its charm through the normal growth process of occasional alterations during two centuries of continuous use. The structure has always been carefully maintained and is in good state of repair today. As can be seen in the illustrations, the house is entirely frame above the first floor. The basement is brick and stone and the roofs are slate and metal.

There are no evidences of serious deterioration on the exterior. The

11 outside vas last painted 5 years ago at a cost of $1,970* Although

there is a greater accumulation of coats of paint than the optimum, the

paint film is in fair condition. The slate roof, which is obviously not

original, has been well maintained and looks well on the house. The roof ballustrade has begun to decay, but has been temporarily patched from behind so that it appears sound when viewed from the outside. Board

walks on top of the metal roofs of the porches are also showing signs

of normal deterioration. The chimneys and chimney flashings were re

repaired last year at a cost of about $250.00. The front" fence and

terrace ballustrade appear surprisingly firm and solid.

There are many noteworthy interior features, a few of which may be

selected as examples. The main stair, with its front and back halls,

separated by a partition with a tall round-headed glazed interior window above the landing is most unusual and attractive. The intricately

carved ballusters and nexrell of the front stair railing can be seen in

one of the photographs. Most of the fireplace openings on the second

floor are surrounded with antique picture-tiles. The kitchen contains a built-in Welsh cupboard of Gargantuan proportions.

Following this page is an illustration sheet showing the plans of the

first, second, and third floors. A note near the center of the sheet

indicates the extent of the house as originally built in 1759* The

large ell at the back and the side piazzas were added between 1791 and

1793* At this time the northeast room of the first floor, which had been Major Vassal!'s dining room was extended to its present length and

two fluted Corinthian columns with a heavy entablature were added in the

12 (2. ROOftflS <• t*TH ONI MOUTH SlOW)

L o n g f e l l o w H ouse— l'RODM n I

T H IR D M.QDR.

RST FLOOR SECOND FLOOR middle of the long wall. The carved and moulded woodwork and plasterwork in this room, now called the Library, Eire particularly handsome.

The original kitchen must have been in location of the present dining room. This is evidenced by the brick-vaulted construction of the cellar under this area, which would have been needed to support a typically brick-floored colonial kitchen. In the rest of the basement the wood beam and joist construction of the first floor is exposed except in the southwest portion where a reinforced concrete ceiling slab was added during World War II in an'effort to provide shelter and storage secure against enemy action. This concrete-covered portion of the basement should be investigated as a possible location of a new heating plant.

The heating system, which is functioning well at present, is inappropriate when considered by Service standards. It consists of three separate hand- fired coal furnaces supplying hot air by gravity through metal ducts.

About 30 tons of egg anthracite are burned per year.

The sewage disposal system consists of two large old fashioned cesspools.

They required emptying last year for the first time in at least 15 years.

A more adequate system, or connection to a public sewer, will be needed to accommodate public restrooms if they are added by the Service.

Electricity was first installed in the house in 1922. Hence none of the wiring is more than 4l years old. Rewiring would be advisable within a few years but it is not an immediate necessity. Some of the plumbing is considerably older but it seems to be fairly free of maintenance difficulty at present.

13 The house is equipped with a fire detection system connected with the nearest city firehouse. The system, trade name "Detecto-Wire" appears adequate.

The stable, which was designed by Longfellow, is a two-storied wooden structure about 20 x 60 feet in plan. A portion of the first floor was altered to serve as a garage early in the present century. It is recommended that the exterior appearance of this building be preserved to maintain the atmosphere of the old house and its surroundings. If possible, any new facilities, such as public restrooms, a modern heating plant for the house, or an exhibit room, should be constructed inside the stable or in the basement of the house to avoid aesthetic intrusions in the grounds.

Since the house and grounds have remained almost unchanged since the poet's time, no restoration work is recommended. However, it is* recommended that $100,000 (actual construction money) be spent on a general rehabilitation as follows:

Scrape and repaint exterior of house, stable and fences $4,000

Repairs to roofs and flashings 800

New boardwalks on verandah roofs 800

Repairs to exterior woodwork 1,700

Construct heater - room in stable or in basement 8,000

New Heating plant 12,000

14 Sewerage work ------2,500

Construct public restrooms in stable ------12,000

Exhibit room and exhibits ------16,000

Eeplace portions of interior utilities ------k, 000

Interior painting, plaster-patching, and wallpaper work ------18,200

Tree and plant replacement, turf improvement, and driveway-work ------20,000 Total $100,000

In preparation for the above work, research should be programmed as i follows:

Architectural research - - - - $l6,000

Historical research ----- 10,000

Landscape research ----- 10,000 Total $36,000

Annual expenses of operation of the physical plant are estimated as follows:

Fuel (includes heating stable) - - -1,700 1Ç75ÔÔ

To this annual estimate should be added the salary of one full-time caretaker (man) and a part-time charwoman and a GS~9 Historian (curator) as described elsewhere in this report.

15 \

HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE

One of the great historic.houses of America, the Longfellow House represents a diversity of interest equalled by few other historic buildings shown to the public today. Structurally, this great house embraces (l) the nearly-square front core -- the formal, yellow clapboarded Georgian edifice with pilastered central pav ilion and pediment built by John Vassall, Jr., in 1759; and (2) the slight rearward extension thereof and ell, and side piazzas built following its acquisition by Andrew Craigie in 1791-

In story significance, the house embraces principally (l) the Vassall period, 1759-177^; terminated when "tory" John Vassall found it pru dent to move to Boston to take refuge from "the mob" that surrounded the house in September of the latter year: (2) the Revolutionary

War period, when, after having first seen use as a hospital for col onials wounded at Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill and as housing for Colonel John Glover and his "Marblehead fishermen," it became, in

July 1775, the headquarters for George Washingtonj (3) the occupancy of the Andrew Craigie's (Andrew Craigie, 1791 till his death in 1819; his wife Miriam until her death in l84l), Andrew Craigie being the first Apothecary General of the American army, a later director of the First Bank of the United States, and speculator extraordinary; and, (4) most notably, the Longfellow period.

Longfellow's lengthy association with the house began in August 1837; when he succeeded in persuading Andrew Craigie's widow (who had

16 fa”'1 previously rented rooms to such Harvard students as Josiah Quincy, Edward

Everett and Jared Sparks, all later presidents of Harvard University)

to let him have the room over Washington's old council chamber as a

study and the adjoining room as a bedchamber. Longfellow had come

to Cambridge the previous December as successor to George Tichnor

in the Smith Professorship of Modern Languages at Harvard. He was

to remain in Cambridge and in the house until his death, which occurred

March 24, l882. On July 13, 1843, the poet married Frances Elizabeth

Appleton, daughter of Nathan Appleton, a Boston merchant. The latter bought the house with the grounds immediately adjoining as a present

for the newlyweds and later added land across the street, (partially preserved today in municipally-owned Longfellow Park), reaching to

the Charles River. The poet's oldest and unmarried daughter, Alice

May Longfellow, lived in the great house until her death in 1928.

Originally the "seat" of the 200-acre estate that John Vassal! owned

on the north side of the Charles River, the Longfellow House today

stands largely shorn of its early "manorial" surroundings. Still, the house— with the formal arrangements of terraces,- balustrades and steps at its front--symbolizes the finished whole. A barn built by Long

fellow stands in the left rear of the house atop the site of an earlier barn built by Andrew Craigie; the formal garden at the right rear is

that i)hich Longfellow developed on the site of an earlier gardener's

cottage. The flower-beds, with their borders of box, make up a sym metrical pattern.

IT A sundial stands in the center, bearing one of Longfellow's favorite mottoes, a line from Dante's Purgatorio, xii, 84: "Pensa che questo di mai non raggiorna." This Longfellow had translated as: "Think that this day will never dawn again."

As a gateway to the path leading from the garden to the barn, there have been set up the sideposts and pediment brought here by Mr. Long fellow in l88l, shortly before his death. He took them from the Old

Longfellow House in Newbury, which had been built in 1685 by the first

Longfellows to come to this country. (1 )

The Longfellow House, as shown today, presents an interior aspect that apparently stems from the last period of Henry Longfellow^s life.

Most notable is the ground floor study--the room to the right of the front hall--where in the far front corner stands the high desk before which Longfellow stood to compose much of his poetry. In front of a bookcase near an interior corner of the same room is the long, leather- covered chair in which Longfellow sat. In the center is the table which in his time was piled high with books and papers. This room, probably that used by George Washington as a council chamber, is notable in terms of its use by the poet to receive the countless visitors to the house, visitors to whom he would willingly relate highlights of the house's history--an early example of "making history come alive" in

(l) The foregoing is based primarily upon the brochure by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana, The Longfellow House: History and Guide (Cambridge, n.d.), as supplemented by Iyman F. Kebler's brief biographical sketch of Andrew Craigie in Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone, eds., Dictionary of American Biography, IV, 497

18 terras of the physical setting in which that history was made. This room also contains, in addition to its predominantly Longfellow items

(including the handsome carved chair made from the "spreading chestnut tree"), a Chippendale side chair that George Washington used while headquartered here in 1775-76 -

There can be no need to argue the case for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as a significant figure in American literary history, or to go into the details of his life. Extraordinarily popular in his lifetime,

Longfellow is known to millions of Americans from their schooldays when his poems--"The Courtship of Miles Standish", "Evangeline",

"Hiawatha", "The Skeleton in Armor" (to name but a few)— almost "made" the American past. Perhaps not a universally-great poet (though he was the first American poet to be memorialized in Westminister Abbey), his significance is perhaps greatest as a literary symbol of his age-- the Victorian age. William Dean Howells summed it up when he said, " . with Tennyson and Browning, Longfellow fully shared in the expression of an age which more completely than any former age got itself said (2) by its poets". Meanwhile with his romantic approach to the American past, Longfellow seems a peculiarly apt symbol for today when Americans look increasingly to our past heritage for courage and comfort in a troubled world.

(2) Cited in Kenneth Ballard Murdock, "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow", in Encyclopedia Britannica, XIV, 379

19 And where bett~r t;: esort" thè T.ong^e? "low symbol than the great house that was liis home--a house itself appropriately "storied" from the great immediate past of its noted poet owner, its walls crowded to the corners with the hooks (more than 10,000 of them) from which he drew so many of his stories, its study still silently ringing with the words of its great occupant weaving "twice-told tales" for visitors, the tall desk in the corner prodding the imagination with visions of the Longfellow who stood there writing lovingly of the American past, gaining renewed inspiration as he looked through the window and across the meadow to the flowing

Charles. If the house is even now "living Longfellow" with its period

(and earlier) furnishings, priceless objects of art, and paintings so symbolic of the interests of the great poet who acquired them, (3) it can be made even more so by the appropriate utilization of the many additional objects and furnishings now in storage on the third floor.

And the Longfellow family story can "ring the more" as the great manu script collections within the house are combed, collated, studied and interpreted for the additional insights they may furnish with respect to this significant American literary figure..

(3) For example, the copy of the Houdon bust of George Washington acquired by Longfellow in 1844, and placed in the front entrance hall, with a copy of the Washington family coat-of-arms beside it, and--on the wall above the adjacent stairs--the engraving of Washington on his white horse, and a rough sketch of Washington in oils by Gilbert Stuart; similarly, in the library, the busts of the Greek poets, and the interesting portrait of the famed pianist Franz Liszt, painted as Longfellow saw him, by the noted American portrait painter, G. P. A. Healy (4) A some 240-page tabulation of the contents of the house is on file in the Northeast Begional Office, National Park Service; also, a 17-page inven tory of the archival holdings, which--in addition to including a few original Henry Wadsworth Longfellow letters and microfilm of the great bulk of such 1 material "on loan", for safekeeping, to the library of Harvard University-- includes manuscripts of, or about various generations of the Longfellow family, the journals and letters of his second wife (Frances Elizabeth Appleton Longfellow); a file of letters from Polly Allen to Andrew Craigie, her natural father; Appleton family papers; etc. .

2G APPENDICES

A-l Deed

A-2 Supplemental Indenture of Trust

B Cambridge Historical Commission Ordinance

Cambridge Historic Districts Map

C Comments on Proposed Longfellow District DEED

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that we, Ernest W.,Longfellow of the

City, County and State of New York, and Alice M. Longfellow, Edith L.

Dana, wife of Richard H. Dana, and Annie L. Thorp, wife of Joseph G.

Thorp, all of Cambridge, in the County of Middlesex and Commonwealth

of Massachusetts, being the surviving children of Henry W. Longfellow,

late of said Cambridge, in consideration of one dollar and other good

and valuable consideration to us paid by John F. Moors of Boston in

the County of Suffolk and said Commonwealth, Edmund M. Parker of said

Cambridge, and Dudley L. Pickman, Junior, of said Boston, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, do hereby remise, release and forever

QUIT-CLAIM unto the said John F. Moors, Edmund M. Parker and Dudley L.

Pickman, Junior, those premises with the buildings thereon situated

on the north side of Brattle Street in said Cambridge, the mansion

house thereon being known as Craigie House and being the house for merly occupied by the said Henry W. Longfellow, and the said premises

being bounded and described as follows: Southwesterly by Brattle

Street, two hundred forty six and sixty-five hundredths (246 65/100)

feet; northwesterly by land of Edith L. Dana, three hundred fifty (350)

feet; northeasterly by land of Alice M. Longfellow, two hundred forty-

six and fifty-eight hundredths (246 58/100) feet; southeasterly by

land formerly of Lawrence now of Longstretii; being the premises marked

"Estate of Henry W. Longfellow" on a plan of partition of the estate

of Henry W. Longfellow by Aspinwall and Lincoln dated October 16,

1888 and recorded with Middlesex South-District deeds in Plan Book 57, \

Number 6, the said premises being subject to a right of way from Lot

Number 1 and beyond on said plan to Brattle Street, said right of way

being thirty (30) feet wide and the northwesterly line thereof being

coincident with the southeasterly boundary of Lot Number 3 on said

plan, reserving also and granting to Edith L. Dana and her heirs and

assigns forever a right of way over the above described right of way

appurtenant to her land Lot Number 3 on said plan and beyond.

And for the consideration named above we assign, transfer

and set over unto the said grantees so much of the personal property,

furniture, books, objects of art and other chattels, formerly the

property of the said Henry W. Longfellow and now in the said house,

as are owned by us in common, and I, Ernest W. Longfellow, also trans

fer to the grantees' my portrait of my father now in the study of said

house.

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the granted premises with all the privi

leges and appurtenances thereto belonging, together with the said

personal property to the said John F. Moors, Edmund M. Parker and

Dudley L. Pickman, Junior, the survivors and survivor of them, their

heirs, successors and assigns, to their own use and behoof forever;

but.upon TRUST, nevertheless, for the uses and purposes, and with

the powers hereinafter set forth; -- that is to say:

FIRST: Upon trust to permit the said Alice M. Longfellow

to use and occupy the said premises, she to pay all taxes and other

charges which may be assessed thereon, to keep the buildings and « personal property at all times in good condition and repair, and

2 suitably insured for the benefit of the trustees hereunder, and to maintain and preserve the buildings, personal property and premises generally, together with all fences, walks, trees, plants and shrubs in proper condition so as not only to insure the safety thereof, but to preserve an appearance appropriate to the character of the estate, and to renew and replace perishable chattels such as carpets, cur tains, etc., as they wear out, and to pay such additional rent, if any, as may be reasonable; or, instead of the payment of taxes, in surance and repairs, and the maintenance, etc., as above, to pay such reasonable rent as the trustees and the said Alice M. Longfellow may agree upon, the trustees in that case to attend to taxes, insurance, repairs and maintenance as above provided for. After the death of the said Alice M. Longfellow, or in any year during her life when she may not wish to occupy the premises, to permit the other grantors named herein to use and occupy the premises upon the terms above set forth, the grantors to have this privilege in the order of their seniority. If none of said grantors wish to occupy the premises, then to permit one of the grandchildren of Henry W. Longfellow, at the discretion of the trustees, so to occupy the same; and in case none of them desire so to occupy the premises, the trustees are to have the power to lease the same, the whole or any part or parts thereof, to a stranger. (In arranging for the occupancy of the premises as above provided for, as long as it is occupied by any of the children of the said Henry W. Longfellow they shall decide regarding the ad mission of the public to view the premises as they may think best;

3 but when occupied by any other than said children the trustees shall arrange that the public be admitted into such part or parts of the premises and at such reasonable times as the trustees in their discre tion may direct. It is particularly desired that the articles of personal property in the study and library shall be kept as they now are and in the same positions, as far as possible. Any net income arising from the lease of the property and not needed for the pur poses of the trust shall, during the continuance of the trust, and at the discretion of the trustees, be distributed from time to time to those who would be the heirs at law of the said Henry W. Longfellow, had he died at the dates of distribution.

Second: This trust shall continue, unless otherwise ter minated hereunder, for twenty years after the death of the last sur vivor of the following persons; namely, the grantors hereunder:

Richard H. Dana, Junior, of said New York and his soni Richard H.

Dana 3rd; Henry W. L. Dana of said New York; Frances D. deRham, wife of Henry C. deRham 2d, of said New York and Henry Longfellow and

Richard Dana, her sons; Allston Dana of White plains in said State of New York, Dorothy G., Allston Junior, and Thomas A. Dana, his children; Edmund T. Dana of said Cambridge; Delia F. Hutchinson, wife of Robert H. Hutchinson of the City and County of Philadelphia and

State of Pennsylvania; Alcie A., Erica, Annie L., Priscilla A. Thorp, and Amelia T. Knowles, wife of Robert W. Knowles of said Cambridge, children of said Annie L. Thorp.

Third: Upon the termination of the trust as above provided

4 for, or earlier if at any time all the grantors then living shall

assent thereto in writing, the trustees shall, or if none of the

children or grandchildren of the said Henry W. Longfellow care to

occupy the premises, as above provided for, for three years in suc

cession, the trustees may convey the premises to a corporation, j j

either then existing or which may be organized for the purpose, to

be held, preserved, maintained and managed for the benefit of the

public as a specimen of the best Colonial architecture of the middle

of the eighteenth century, as an historical monument of the occupation i t . of the house by General Washington during the siege of Boston in the

Revolutionary War, and as a memorial to Henry W. Longfellow, the

public to be allowed to visit the premises at such times and to such

extent and upon payment of such fee, if any, as the corporation may

deem to be reasonable and expedient, having in view the safety and

preservation of the buildings, and the maintenance of their character,

the trustees to convey the premises to such corporation by deed con

taining such restrictions and directions as may be proper and reason

able to effect that object; and whereas the grantors hereunder believe

that that object will be promoted if the house or some portion there

of shall be occupied at all times when practicable by some descendant

of Mr. Longfellow, the trustees shall insert in the deed to be made

to the corporation a recommendation that such occupation be arranged

so far as it can be conveniently done, and upon reasonable rental and not as matter of charity, not imposing, however, any trust or binding obligation in that respect on the said corporation, but leav

ing the whole matter to its discretion.

5 Fourth: If at any time during the extreme limit for the

continuance of the trust the mansion house shall be wholly destroyed

by fire or other accident, or damaged thereby to such an extent that

its identity and historical character could not, in the opinion of

the trustees, or. corporation, be preserved by reasonable repairs and

restoration, then in that event the premises shall be immediately

conveyed and the personal property of the trust, or what personal

property has been transferred hereunder to a corporation, together

with any of the fund that may have come from the grantors hereunder

and any insurance money received on the loss of the building shall

be turned over to the children of Henry W. Longfellow, free of any

trust, and if any of them be then deceased, his heirs, determined as

if he had died at that time, shall take the interest which he would

have taken if living, the conveyance to be made to the persons entitled

and in their respective proportions, as tenants in common.

Fifth: It being expected that money shall at some time

hereafter be put into the hands of the trustees hereunder as a fund

to be used, if necessary, for the care, maintenance and repair of the

granted premises, now it is understood that so much of such fund or

its income as may be needed from time to time shallvbe applied by

the trustees to such purpose, any money not so expended to be held

and invested and the income to be added to principal, unless other wise directed in the gifts forming the fund; and if there by any money so held at the time above fixed for the final conveyance of the

premises to a corporation, then such fund, or any part thereof may,

6 in the discretion of the trustees, be either paid over to the cor poration to promote the objects to be carried out by it as above specified, or, if it be not expended for this purpose, may be paid over to those who would be the heirs at law of the said Henry W. Longfellow had he died at that time, the whole matter of the use and payment of / such remaining fund being hereby committed to the sole discretion of the trustees, but to be always and in all respects subject to any direction which may be given in that regard by the donors of the money at the time their donation is made.

Sixth: The foregoing provisions may be altered, annulled or added to by an instrument in writing' signed by the surviving children of Mr. Longfellow at any time so long as there be at least two such survivors, except that nothing shall be done to affect or impair the obligation of the trustees to make a final conveyance of .j j the premises to a corporation as above provided.

Seventh: The personal property hereby transferred shall be allowed by the trustees to remain in the house in which it now is and to be used by the person occupying the same, but the surviving children of Mr. Longfellow, at any time so long as there be at least two, may by an instrument in writing direct that a different use be made of any of such articles, or direct that the same or any of them may be delivered free of trust by the trustees to such survivors or to such persons or corporation as such surviving children may direct, and the trustees shall comply with such direction. The trustees shall not be responsible for the safe keeping of any of such articles while in the possession of any person who may occupy the buildings,

7 nor shall any person whomsoever be responsible for the safe keeping of articles which now are, or which hereafter may be, of insignificant value, or which may be accidentally lost. If at the time above fixed for the final conveyance of Craigie House to a corporation any of such articles remain in the hands of the trustees, they shall be trans- i ferred and delivered to the corporation to be held and used by it in furtherance of the objects to be carried out by it as above speci fied.

Eighth: Any trustee may resign by an instrument in writing signed, acknowledged and recorded with the Middlesex South-District deeds. Any vacancy in the Board of Trustees hereunder which may occur by resignation, death or incapacity to act may be filled by the remaining trustees by a deed of appointment, or, in default of such appointment, by any court of competent jurisdiction. The term

"trustees" as used hereunder shall be taken to mean the person or persons who at any time may be the surviving trustee or trustees hereunder, whether original or substituted, but it is the intention hereunder that there shall be at least three trustees at all times, until the conveyance above provided for to a corporation. The trus tees hereunder shall be responsible only for their wilful misfeasance, default or neglect, and not for the misfeasance, default or neglect of any other person. The trustees may employ an agent to manage said real and personal estate and employees to look after the same at their discretion. The trustees may receive reasonable compensation for their services out of the income in their hands. The trustees may, if they think advisable, become incorporated either under the

8 general laws or by special act of the legislature of said commonwealth,

associating other persons with them if they think best, for the pur

pose of carrying out this trust, but without shareholders or stock.

Ninth: And we, the grantees named above, hereby accept .the

trusts above imposed upon us, and agree faithfully to perform the

same. And for the consideration aforesaid we, Harriet Longfellow, wife of said Ernest W. Longfellow, Richard H. Dana, husband of said

Edith L. Dana,, and Joseph G. Thorp, husband of said Annie L ‘.'Thorp,

do hereby release unto the said grantee and his heirs-and assigns

all right of or to dower, homestead or curtesy in the granted;premises,

and all other rights and interests which we may have therein.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF we, the said Ernest W. Longfellow,

Harriet Longfellow, Alice M. Longfellow, being unmarried, Edith L. Dana,

Richard H. Dana, Annie Thorp and Joseph G. Thorp and the said John F.

Moors, Edmund M. Parker and Dudley L. Pickman, Junior, hereunto set

our hands and seals this twenty eighth day of October, A. D.,nineteen

hundred and thirteen, each hereby adopting the same common seal.

(signed) Ernest W. Longfellow.

" Harriet S. Longfellow.

(signed) John F. Moors " Alice M; Longfellow.

" Edmund M. Parker (Seal) " - Edith L. Dana. (Seal) " Dudley L. Pickman Jr. " Richard H. Dana.

" Annie L.-Thorp.

" Joseph G. Thorp.

9 Supplemental Indenture of Trust

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

A Copy from Records of Middlesex Co. District Registry of Deeds

Book i+308 Page 500

WHEREAS Ernest W. Longfellow of the City, County and State of Hew York, Alice M. Longfellow, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Edith L. Dana, wife of Richard H. Dana, of said Cambridge, and Annie L. Thorp, wife of Joseph G. Thoi-p, of said Cambridge, the grantors in a certain Indenture of Trust dated October 28, 1913, between themselves and John F. Moors, Edmund M. Parker and Dudley L. Pickman, Jr., the Trustees thereunder, have this day transferred to said Trustees cer tain monies and securities for the purpose of constituting the fund referred to in the Fifth Article of said Indenture, which said monies and securities have been contributed by said grantors in the following proportions, namely: Three fifths thereof by the said Alice M. Long fellow. One fifth thereof by the said Ernest W. Longfellow. One tenth thereof by the said Edith L. Dana. One tenth thereof by the said Annie L. Thorp. HOW THEREFORE this Supplemental Indenture made this eighteenth day of November, 191^- by and between said Ernest W. Longfellow, Alice M. Longfellow, Edith L. Dana and Annie L. Thorp of the first part, hereinafter termed the settlors, and the said John F. Moors, Edmund M. Parker, and Dudley L. Picluran, Jr., of the second part, hereinafter termed the trustees, and for the purpose of alter ing and adding to said indenture of October 28, 1913 and especially of defining and establishing the trusts on which monies and securities are to be held by said Trustees and their successors. WITNESSETH that: ------

ARTICLE I. Said Trustees shall hold said monies and securities in trust as c, fund and manage and invest the same so as to produce a reasonably certain income and after payment therefrom of the taxes end other expenses of said fund shall apply the remain der of said income to the payment of the following expenses in so far as the rental of the property conveyed to said Trustees by said Inden ture and which is first to be used therefor may not have sufficed that is: ------

1st. To the payment of the taxes and other charges assessed on said property, the maintenance, preservation and repair and replace ment thereof, the insurance of the same, and to the compensation of the Trustees for their services both under said Indenture and in the manage ment and care of the fund hereunder, and after payment of said expenses 2

2nd. To accumulate and add to the principal of said fund, such portion of the income thereof in each year as to said Trustees may seem expedient, and also to add thereto such portion of the in come of the property conveyed to said Trustees by said Indenture as they may determine. ------

3rd. To pay over to the settlors, annually or oftener if the Trustees deem it expedient, and in the proportions in which the settlors contributed to the principal of said fund, any surplus in come remaining after making the foregoing payments and accumulation. And upon and after the death of any of the settlors that portion of the surplus income to which such settlor would have been entitled if living, shall during the continuance of this trust, be paid to such person or persons and in such proportions as such settlor may by will appoint and in default of appointment to those persons who at the time of each payment are the heirs of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The interest in the income of said fund to which any person, other than the settlors, may be entitled hereunder shall be free from all liabil ity for the debts of such person and from any interference or control by any creditor of his, and such person shall have no power in any way to alienate or anticipate such interest.

ARTICLE IIo Said Trustees shall have power to apply any portion of the principal of the fund to any of the purposes enumer ated in paragraph 1st. of the preceding Article.______.

ARTICLE III. Upon the happening of the event set forth in Article Fourth of , aid Indenture of October 28, 1913; said Trustees shall pay over the principal of the fund then remaining in their hands to the settlors and in the proportions to which they contributed to the principal of said fund, and if at the time of such payment, any of said settlors have deceased, that portion of the fund to which any such'settlor would have been entitled, if living, shall be paid to such persons and in such proportions as such settlor may by will appoint, and in default of such appointment, to those persons who at the time of such payment, are the heirs at law of said Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

ARTICLE TVi Upon the conveyance to a corporation of the premises conveyed to said Trustees by said Indenture of October 28, 1913 as contemplated by said Indenture, said Trustees are empowered to convey said principal or such portion thereof as they may deem expedient to such corporation and such portion thereof as is not so conveyed shall be paid to the settlors and in the proportions to which they contributed to the principal of said fund, and if, at the time of such payment, any of said settlors have deceased that portion of the fund to which any such settlor would have been entitled, if living, shall be paid to such persons and in such proportions as such settlor may by will appoint, and in default of such appointment, to those persons who, at the time of such payment, are the heirs at law of said Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.------

ARTICLE V. Unless sooner terminated as above provided, the duration of this trust shall be the same as that of the trus.t established by said Indenture of October 28, 1913^ set forth in the Second Article thereof, and upon its expiration, said Trustees are required to pay over said principal fund or such portion thereof as they deem expedient to a corporation as set forth in said Indenture, and such portion thereof as is not so paid shall be paid over in accordance with the provisions of the preceding article. ------

ARTICLE VI. The Trustees hereunder shall have full power to make or change investments, to sell at public or private sale, lease, pledge or exchange and for such consideration and on such terms as they may deem expedient any property held in trust here under, to pay broker's commissions out of the income, to buy bonds at a premium and pay over the face value of the coupons thereof as and for the income thereon, and no purchaser from or lender to said Trustees shall be bound to see to the application of the money paid or lent. Each Trustee shall be liable only for his personal wilful misfeasance, default or neglect and not for that of any other person.

ARTICLE VII. The word "Trustee" herein means the person or persons who at any time may be trustees hereunder, whether original or substituted. The Trustees hereunder shall always be the same persons as are Trustees under said Indenture of 28 October 1913 and no person shall resign or be appointed Trustee hereunder unless at the same time resigning or being appointed Trustee under said Indenture and the pro visions of Article Eighth of said Indenture as to the resignation appointment and incorporation of the Trustees thereunder shall include the Trustees hereunder. ------

ARTICLE VIII. The provisions of said Indenture of October 28, 1913 regarding said fund are modified as herein set forth. - - - -

ARTICLE IX. The trusts established by this Indenture may at any time be modified by the settlors or the survivors thereof being not less than two, provided that such modification shall not extend the duration of the trust nor tend to defeat the object of said fund, being the care, maintenance and repair of said property, nor affect any interest under the will of any of the settlors. - - - - ARTICLE X. And the said Trustees hereby acknowledge the receipt of said monies and securities as above stated and accept the conveyance of the same as a fund upon the trusts above set forth and covenant to hold the manage the same in accordance therewith. IN WITNESS WHEREOF the said settlors and the said Trustees here unto set their hands and seals.

Ernest W. Longfellow (seal) Alice M. Longfellow (seal) Edith L. Dana (seal) Annie L. Thorp (seal) John F. Moors (seal)) Trustees Edmund M. Parker (seal)) Dudley L. Pickman Jr- (seal)

Middlesex ss. Cambridge, November 23d, 191^. Personally appeared the above-nsimed Edith L. Dana and acknowledged the foregoing Inden ture by her subscribed in my presence to be her free act and deed, before me, Albert F. Amee, Notary Public. (Notarial seal) ss. Boston, November 2kth 191^+. Personally appeared the above-named Edmund M. Parker and acknowledged the foregoing Indenture by him subscribed in my presence to be his free act and deed, as Trustee as aforesaid, before me, Frederick Gutterson, Notary Public. (Notarial seal) k£y Commission expires July 3; 1919* Middlesex ss. Nov. T- 1919* 3h. 55m P.M. Rec'd & Recorded. APPENDIX B

Exhibit M

PROPOSED CAMBRIDGE HISTORICAL COMMISSION ORDINANCE (Frcm the Final Report of the Historic Districts Study Committee) 1962

1 . There is hereby established under the Historic Districts Act, General Laws., Chapter 40C, with all the powers and duties of an historic district commission, a Cambridge Historical Comm ission, consisting of seven members to be appointed by the Manager with the approval of the Council, including one member, where possible, from two nominees submitted by the Cambridge Historical Society, one member, where possible, frcm two nom inees, one of whom shall be submitted by the Chapter of the American Institute of Architects covering Cambridge, and one of whom shall be submitted by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects, and one member, where possible, frcm two nominees of the board of realtors covering Cambridge. One or more of the foregoing shall be a resident of an Historic District established in Cambridge pursuant to the Historic Districts Act. When the Commission is first established, two members shall be appointed for a term of one year, two shall be appointed for a term of two years and three shall be appointed in like manner for three years. When the Commission is first established, one alternate member shall be appointed in like manner for a term, of one year, one alternate member for a term of three years and their successors shall be appointed in like manner for terms of three years.

2. There are hereby established wader the provisions of the.Historic Districts Act, four historic districts, to be known respectively as Cambridge Common Historic District, Longfellow Historic District, Lowell Historic District, and Fayerweather-Lee Historic District, bounded as respectively shov/n on the map entitled "Cambridge Historic Districts Map - 1962" attached to and made a part of this ordinance.

3 . The Commission shall have in addition to the powers and duties of an historic district commission the following further powers and duties, subject to appropriation or receipt of money gifts, and may in exer cise of any of its powers or duties accept and expend such gifts and employ clerical and technical assistants, or consultants:

a. to conduct a survey of Cambridge buildings for the purpose of determining those of historic significance architecturally or otherwise, and pertinent facts about them, acting in collaboration with the Planning Board and the Redevelopment Authority to the extent either may from time to time he able to undertake such work, and to maintain and from time to time revise detailed listings of historic sites and buildings in Cambridge, and data about them appropriately classified with respect to national, state or local significance, to period or field interest, or otherwise;

b. to propose from time to time as they deem appropriate, the establishment in accordance with the provisions of the Historic Districts Act of additional historic districts and changes in historic districts; „

c. to determine an appropriate system of markers for selected historic sites and buildings not already sufficiently marked, to arrange for preparation and installation of such markers, and to arrange for care of historic markers;

d. to arrange for preparation and publication of maps and brochures and descriptive material about Cambridge historic sites and buildings, arranged for convenient walks or tours, or otherwise;

e. to arrange for construction and placing under appropriate cover at a convenient place on or near the Cambridge Common of a model of Cambridge as it existed in the latter part of 1775 j

f. to cooperate with and advise the Planning Board, the Redevelopment Authority, the Public Works Department, and other city agencies in matters involving historic sites and buildings;

1 g. to cooperate with and enlist assistance for Cambridge from the national Park Service, the national Trust for Historic Preser vation, the Society for Preservation of New England Antiquities, and other agencies, public and private, from time to time concerned with historic sites and buildings;

h. to advise owners of historic buildings in Cambridge on problems of preservation. h. The Commission may recommend to the Manager frcm time to time as needed appointment of advisory committees of historians and persons experienced in architecture or other arts or in historic restoration or preservation, to assist in manner comparable to the National Park Service Advisory Board or Consulting Committee.

5 . The Commission shall adopt rules and regulations for the conduct of its business, not inconsistent with the provisions of the Historic Districts Act or this ordinance.

2 6. When taking action under the provisions of the second paragraph of Section 7 of the Historic Districts Act, the Commission shall make its determination within forty-five days after the filing of the application for a certificate of appropriateness, or such further time as the applicant may in writing allow.

7- In case any section, paragraph or part of this ordinance be for any reason declared invalid or unconstitutional by any court of last resort, every other section, paragraph or part shall continue in full force and effect.

8 . The establishment of Historic Districts under Section 2 shall not be effective until the first day of the third month after this ordinance is ordained.

3 In comlrwlng dittric» boundary lina* Iha followlng rulai appi y . I Linai along iiraali ara itraat tidalinai CAMBRIDGE HISTORIC 2. Linai aarliad *L " ara lo» lin ai ',

3 Linai markad ‘l* ara anlantioni of Uraai linai or lo» linai 4 Linai markad "P ara porollal »0 itrolgh» Hraal linai Or DISTRICTS MAP -1962 eoncanlric lo eurvad itraai linai ai Iha diiionca indicoiad

5 Cario, n linai ora unmor.ad bui iha OCOHo" and d -ACl.on

6 All linai no» olham.ia nomad or idanlifiad ora tiro ghi ‘ noi connac li ng poinll «bara olhar linai intarlaci tlraal »II O' ..»Il SCALE r.250' CAMBRIDGE PLANUNG DEPT. APPENDIX C \

Exhibit J

Comments on Proposed Longfellow Historic District (From the Final Report of the Historic Districts Study Committee)

The proposed Longfellow Historic District includes seventeen houses, two religious buildings and one clubhouse. Four of the buildings lie on the north and four on the south side of Brattle Street and the remainder further south. LongfeJlov House (1759)* which is the central focus has great historic association and draws more visitors annual]y than any other house in the city. The district would include also; the Henry Vassal! House of which parts are believed to be seventeenth century and the old est standing in the city; a small, house be.lieved pre-hevolutionary, moved from 83 Brattle Street (the west peat of 8 Hillard Street); a pre-1790 house (11 Hawthorn Street) moved from Brattle and Church Streets) and a 1790 house moved from Newbury, Massachusetts (10 Longfellow Park). All the buildings except one at the northeast corner are on land owned by Vassails before the Revolution. The two houses west of Longfellow House and five of those on lots abutting Longfellow Bark or Hillard Street were either occupied, designed or constructed by members of the Longfellow family. The houses, other than the original two, although varying in design and period have main tained a pleasing dignity and relationship to the two and each other. The whole, despite variance in design and ;ise, has.character and distinc tion greater than its parts, and a spaciousness and liveableness that make a setting for the central mansion sufficiently appropriate to deserve the use of Historic District A.ct Controls. Although additional adjoining areas along Hawthorn or Brattle -Streets might give added pro tection, the bounds we have selected seem to us to include the most essential protection.

Inclusion in the District of Longfellow Park and open park land between Mount Auburn Street and the River is for the purpose of main taining the historic link between the Mansion and the water, and a modern link to the traffic arteries along the river that may give even the fleeting motorist a glimpse or reminder of the serenity and repose ori ginally associated with the district and a living semblance of which is still maintained.

Inclusion of 80 Hillard Street and its lot of about 57*800 square feet and skating rink-tennis courts, and/or* 18 Willard Street and 2 Willard Court, serves to insure proper future development consistent with the surroundings, but these three properties are perraps the least essen tial portion of the district. If recreational u:-e of 80 Willard Street should ever terminate, redevelopment night provide an area to which other historic buildings could be moved. I

Comments about each of the twenty principal buildings included follow:

Northeast side of Brattle Street

101 Brattle Street - Oliver Hastings House - Built 1845 by Hastings, a Boston merchant .. Now belongs to Episcopal Theological School and sometimes called Hodges House. "Well known in architectural world, its semi circular bay, which formerly contained the entrance, recalls the design of the Gore House at Waltham and the White House at Washington. Its trellised balconies in wrought iron belong rather to New York or the South-set off by the two-colors and framed by the simplicity of the main wall-creates an architectural picture unique in Cambridge". (CHS v. 26, pp 41, 1940).

105 Brattle Street - Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House - Built 1750 by John Vassall, George Washington's head quarters 1775-76. Home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1843-1882. "The story of this house centers about four occupants of earlier dates; first, the British Tory who built it; second, the American General who made it his head quarters; third, the businessman who bought it and enlarged it; and finally the poet who made it his home.

"In 1759 Major John Vassall, Jr., a wealthy young Royal ist, came of age, and built here this Colonial house. Two years later, he married Elizabeth Oliver . . . and seven children were born to them in this house. For fifteen years they lived here in comfort and dignity. Finally, in September 1774 . . . the Vassals finding their house surrounded by revolutionists, fled to Boston.

"The estate was confiscated, and after the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill, was used as a hospital for the American soldiers."

"On July 15, 1775; General George Washington . . occupied this house and for the next ten months while he was be sieging the British in Boston, he made this house his headquarters. Here in December, Washington was joined by his wife, Martha Washington .... On January 6, 1776, the anniversary of their wedding was celebrated here by a Twelfth Night Party. Finally having forced the British to evacuate Boston, Washington left Cambridge on April 14, 1776.

2 )

"At the close of the American Revolution, in 1781, the house was sold by the Government."

"In 1792, Dr. Andrew Craigie, who has been Apothecary General . . . bought the house and enlarged it . . . . Here Mr. Craigie brought his wife, the young and beauti ful Betsy Shaw of Nantucket, and here he lived in grim, childless splendor until, ruined by his own extravagance, he died in 1819. His widow, to pay off his debts, lived in the back part of the house and rented the rooms in the front."

"In the summer of 1837, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, then a young Professor at Harvard, came and asked for rooms here. Mrs. Craigie told him that she did not take students. He explained that he was not a student but a professor and later was given rooms .... In l8i-3, Mr. Longfellow married Miss Frances Appleton of Boston and her father purchased the entire house for them. Six children were born to them in this house and after Mrs. Longfellow's death in l86l, Mr. Longfellow continued to live here with his children. Here he often entertained Sumner, Emerson, Hawthorne, Felton, Agassiz, Holmes, Lowell, Norton and other friends. Here he lived and wrote until his death in 1882. Since then the house has remained in the hands of his descendants, almost entirely unchanged. A trust has been formed to preserve the house as a specimen of Colonial architecture, a monument of its occupation by Washington, and as a memorial to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow." H. W. L. Dana as quoted in Notes by the Way, 19^5> by Alice Westgate Hildreth. See also Exhibit D, pp 207-0; and CHS v. 25, pp 19-60; v. 27, pp ^3-91; v. 37 PP 16-19, and "The Craigie House" by Samuel Swett Green, 1900, Am. Antiquarian Society.

113 Brattle Street - Built about 1887 by the poet *s daughter, Edith Longfellow Dana, and her husband Richard Henry Dana, 3rd, son of the author of "Two Years Before the Mast", and grandson of Chief Justice Francis Dana, principal owner of the land to become Cambridgeport, and proprietor of the first West Boston Bridge in 1793- In 19^0, nine years after the death of R. H. Dana, 3rd, the house was sold ending ownership of Cambridge land by the Dana family that started in 1640. CHS v. 26, pp 117-123. Now occupied by New Preparatory School.

3 115 Brattle Street - Built 1887-8 by the poet's daughter, Annie Longfellow Thorp, whose family occupied the house until a few years ago. Designed by Alexander Wadsworth Long fellow, Jr., nephew of the poet. Wow owned and occupied by Arthur H. Brooks.

Southwest Side of Brattle Street:

9^ Brattle Street and 2 Hawthorn Street - Henry Vassall House First American Army Medical Headquarters. Until about 18^5 the only house on the southwest side of Brattle as far as Elmwood. West end of the house, with chimney stack 8 feet square, comprises what is the oldest part of any house left in Cambridge. It remains from an ancient dwelling built between 1635-39 by Roger Bancroft. Many additions were made in the l8th and 19th centuries by the Vassails. Jonathan Belcher Royal, governor of the Province of Massachusetts, lived here 1717-19- Used as American Army Medical Headquarters under direction of Dr. Benjamin Church, First Surgeon General of the Continental army. He was arrested as a traitor on October 3> 1775^ bis correspondence proving his defection. See also Exhibit D, p. 197-8; CHS v. 10 pp. 5-85; v. 21 pp. 79-118; v. 36 pp. 13-lb. % 96-IOO Brattle Street - Site of the James House at 96 Brattle Street Built in 1886 and demolished when the present Church of Jesus Christ of Latter lay Saints was built in 195^ and 1955* Also site of Williams house at 100 Brattle Street, built in 1900. In 195^ this house was moved to 15 Hawthorn Street, where it stands today, to make room for the present church edifice.

108 Brattle Street - Picturesque Victorian House, known as a "Honeymoon Cottage" built in 1870 for Ernest Longfellow, son of the poet. Originally a square frame house (Stuccoed later). Studio probably added by Ernest Longfellow who was an artist.

112 Brattle Street - House built by Stephen D. Brown, on 20,717 square foot lot purchased in 18^5 from George Foster, one of Andrew Craigie's nephews and heirs, at the corner of Willard Street (known as Liberty Street until 1840 when the name was changed to honor Joseph Willard, President of Harvard). Belonged to Frances I. Martin from l86l to 1915 when she sold the house and 1^,200 feet of land to Clifford M. and Lorena L. Moore, who sold it to the present owners Charles L. and Hetty Kuhn in May, 19^9- "A complete type with full Greek cornice and pilasters, but it gains added distinction by a small pedimented porch and some good Greek ornament, -- the most charming and hcme-like of the

k smaller designs -- its charm is partly due to two colors of paint., which lighten the heaviness of the style." (Roger Gilman, CHS v. 26 pp. 36-^0 ).

Hawthorn Street:

11 Hawthorn Street - Sergeant Jonathon Bates house built in 1780-20 and located at the corner of Church and Brattle Streets. Moved to this location by present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Hall in 1926 when the City widened Church Street.

15 Hawthorn Street - Moved here 195^-- Built 1900 at 100 Brattle Street, which see above.

Longfellow Park:

\ 6 Longfellow Park - Built in 1901 by Professor Fred I'l. Robinson, who still occupies it. Land purchased from Longfellow daughters. Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow, Jr., architect. During construction in July of 1901 the house burned so badly that it had to be started over again. Finally completed in January, 1902. (From Fred N. Robinson in December, 1961).

10 Longfellow Park - Present house moved board by board and rebuilt on site in 1936 hy Mr. and Mrs. Henry Copley Greene, the present owners. The house originally was situated on the Newburyport Turnpike in Hewbury, Mass. Original house dates back to 1790 and was known as "River Houslin". (From Mrs. Amelia Greene, December, 1961).

16 Longfellow Park - Built in 1935-1936 and now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Horace W. Frost. Eleanor Raymond, architect. Purchased land frcm Annie L. Thorp Estate. (From Horace W. Frost, December, 1961).

5 Longfellow Park - Built about 191^ by Amelia Thorp Knowles, grand daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on Longfellow land. The house was enlarged considerably at a later date. Acquired in 1936-7 By the Religious Society of Friends who then added the present meeting house, designed by William Duguid, and organized the Friends Meeting at Cambridge which now occupies_ the property.

7 Longfellow Park - Originally a small cottage which was moved for ward on the lot and completely rebuilt in 191^ by Mr., Winthrop P. Scudder with the title owner Miss Alice M. Longfellow paying $5500 and Mr. Scudder $3000. Mr. Scudder remained a tenant for 10 years. The house was further enlarged in the middle 20's and purchased by Mr. Willard B. Luther, who died in December, 1961, and whose widow continues in occupation.

Willard Street:

Willard Street - A revived classic design with a very handsome porch over the front door. Built by the Winthrop S. Scudders about 1905.

8 Willard Street - An excellent colonial example - the portion nearest Willard Street is believed built before the Revolution. Moved from 83 Brattle Street by Mr. John C. Runkle about 1913- A new wing was added, designed to be in keeping with the older section. When 83 Brattle Street, occupied as a home by Deacon James Munrow, black smith. (From Rotes by the Way, 19^5; by Alice Westgage Hildreth).

2 Willard Street Court - a house converted from an old barn on the Longfellow Estate. l8 Willard Street - built 1880-1890 not significant, but situation helps make Willard Street Court interesting.

30 Willard Street - Cambridge Skating Club and Cambridge Tennis Club. A copy of Swiss Chalet - (1930) - Allen Jackson, architect.